When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him: ‘Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.’ And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully.
Lk.19:5,6
Zacchaeus was a wealthy man through extortion as a tax collector. Being short, he climbs a tree to get a glimpse of Jesus. Jesus wants to give Zacchaeus more than a glimpse. He wants to save him.
I love this story. It's so full of trivial detail that you know it's authentic. Jesus stopping and identifying with one sinful man amongst the crowd encourages me to believe that of all humanity Jesus wants to spend time with me, "stay at my house".
And Zacchaeus' response is authentic. He welcomes Jesus joyfully, not caring about the rebukes of the people. Jesus must have known his heart was ripe for conversion. Suddenly the hoarded gold is not important as he pledges restitution by giving it away. Beautiful!
Zacchaeus climbed the tree from his own effort. Jesus called him down, called him away from all his striving to be big and gave him a big heart instead. Oh, there's so much for me to learn from this...
Lord Jesus, you know what a tree-climber I am. I come down to you Lord, that you may stay with me.
Little Flower, please pray for me.
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